Course Syllabus

 8/30  Welcome To English 12acp.

8/31  Today we'll tackle a questionnaire, then talk a bit about nuts, bolts and what to expect... and what to aspire to... this year.

9/5  Discussion: Louis Agassiz's fish, Robert Frost's "The Pasture," Richard Wilbur's "Hamlen Brook," and Jane Kenyon's "Otherwise."

9/6  Read the excerpt from Antoine de Saint-Exupery's Wind, Sand and Stars.

DE1: (incipient) What does Saint-Exupery admire in his friends and why is it important?

9/7  In class essay: Frederick Douglass' autobiography.

9/11  Today we'll begin our study of Homer's The Odyssey.

Read Books 1 and 5 of The Odyssey.

9/12  Read Books 9 and 10 of The Odyssey.

DE2: (acumen) What do we learn about Odysseus from his experiences with the Cyclops and Circe?

9/14  Read Books 11 and 12 of The Odyssey.

9/15  Read Books 13 and 19 of The Odyssey.

9/18  Read Books 20 and 21 of The Odyssey.

DE3: (edify) Using Odysseus as your primary example, explain how adventures serve to both test and define one's character.  As ever, be specific.

9/20  Read Books 22 and 23 of The Odyssey.

9/21  Read Book 24 of The Odyssey.

DE4: (seminal) In what ways has Homer helped establish western civilization's version of the principles and ideals by which the individual dines and comports her- or himself?  As ever, support your assertions with specifics.

9/26  Today we'll begin our study of O Brother, Where Art Thou?

9/27  O Brother, Where Art Thou?, continued.

9/28  In class today we'll finish and discuss O Brother, Where Art Thou?

10/2  Paper #1: An expanded and polished DE1, DE2, DE3 or DE4; or an analysis of young Frederick Douglass' confrontation with Mr. Covey.

10/3  Read Ernest Hemingway's "Indian Camp" and "The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife" in In Our Time.

10/5  Read Hemingway's "The End of Something" and "The Three-Day Blow."

DE5 (ruminate) These are stories of loss.  What has Nick lost?  What has he learned about himself?  What has he learned about life?  Be specific.

10/6  Read "The Battler" and "Cross Country Snow."

10/10  Read "The Big Two-Hearted River, Parts I and II."

DE6: (fruition) "There had been this to do.  Now it was done.  It had been a hard trip.  He was very tired.  That was done.  He had made his camp.  He was settled.  Nothing could touch him.  It was a good place to camp.  He was there, in the good place.  He was in his home where he had made it."  Explain.

10/13  Read to page 42 (through "...got to be there.") of James Dickey's Deliverance. 

10/16  Read to page 89 (through "...turning on the light.") of Deliverance. 

DE7: (audacity) What do the men hope to find on their adventure?  Be specific.

10/18  Read to page 131 (through "...going with it.") of Deliverance. 

10/19  Read through page 165 (through "...to the purpose.") of Deliverance. 

10/20  Read to page 205 (through "...his death itself.") of Deliverance. 

10/24  Read through page 240 of Deliverance. 

10/25  Finish reading Deliverance.

DE8: (vindicate) Explain the novel's title.

Today we'll begin our study of the film version of Deliverance.

10/27  Today we'll continue the film version of Deliverance.

10/30  Today we'll finish our study of Deliverance, novel and film.

DE9: (enjoin) What does Deliverance have to say about a fulfilling life... about how to achieve it and to know if (or if not) you're living it?

10/31  Today we'll begin our study of William Shakespeare's Hamlet with Franco Zeffirelli's 1990 film version.  Get started on the reading.  The play is challenging in many ways so be confident, bear down and be alert.

11/3  Today we'll continue our study of Zeffirelli's film.

11/6  Today we'll finish and discuss the film and begin our study of the text of the play.

11/8  Finbish reading Act I of Hamlet.

DE10: (melancholy) "Time is out of joint.  O cursed spite,/That ever I was born to set it right!"  Explain.

11/9  Read Hamlet, Act II.

11/13  Read Hamlet, Act III.

DE11: (animus) Explain Hamlet's displeasure with Ophelia.  Is it fair?  Why?  As ever, support your assertions with specific evidence from the text.

11/15  Read Hamlet, Act IV.

11/16  Read Hamlet, Act V.

11/20  Today we'll continue our examination of Hamlet.

Your recitation of the "To be..." speech is due today before 3:00.

11/21  Today we'll continue our study of Hamlet.

DE12: (implore) "...report me and my cause aright/To the unsatisfied," says Hamlet.  What does he mean and why is it important?

11/28  In class today we'll examine Philip Larkin's "Aubade," Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins..." Mary Oliver's "In Blackwater Woods," Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," Derek Mahon's "Everything Is Going To Be All Right," and Jane Kenyon's "Let Evening Come."

11/30  Read Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat."

DE13: (vexation) "When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she would not maim the universe by disposing of him, he at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and he hates deeply ther fact that there are no bricks and no temples."  Explain.

12/1  Read Edith Wharton's "Roman Fever."

12/5  Paper #2 is due today: an expanded and polished DE9, DE10, DE11 or DE12; a close analysis of a character, passage or theme in Hamlet, an analysis of any of the poems we've studied recently; an analysis of "Roman Fever."

In class we'll begin our study of Our Town.  

12/7  Read Act II of Our Town.

12/8  Read Act III of Our Town.

12/12  Today we'll conclude our study of Our Town.  

DE14: (ephemeral) What does Emily come to realize in revisiting her life?

12/13  Today we'll begin our study of Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life.

12/15  Today we'll continue our study of It's A Wonderful Life.

12/18  Today we'll finish and discuss It's A Wonderful Life.

DE15: (antecedents) What are the antecedents of George Bailey's frustrations?  As ever, be sure to support your claims with specifics.

12/19  In class today you'll be writing about Our Town and It's A Wonderful Life.

12/21  Today we'll prepare for the Vocabulary Olympics and conduct the combine.

12/22  The Vocabulary Olympics.

1/3  Today we'll get started on Nikos Kazantzakis' Zorba the Greek.

1/4  Read Zorba the Greek through chapter 4.

1/5  Read Zorba the Greek through chapter 7.

1/9  Read Zorba the Greek through chapter 10.

DE16: (sanguine) "'Life is trouble,' Zorba continued.  'Death, no.  To live--do you know what that means?  To undo your belt and look for trouble!'"  Explain.

1/10  Read Zorba the Greek through chapter 13.

1/11  Read Zorba the Greek through chapter 16.

1/16  Read Zorba the Greek through chapter 20.

DE17: (vivacity) "he had lived with his flesh and blood--fighting, killing, kissing--all that I had tried to learn through pen and ink alone.  All the problems I was trying to solve point by point in my solitude glued to my chair, this man had solved in the pure air of the mountains with his sword."  Explain.

1/17  Read Zorba the Greek through chapter 23.

1/18  Finish Zorba the Greek.

Today we'll begin Michael Cacoyannis' film version of Zorba the Greek.

DE18: (chide) If Zorba had a look at your life, what would be say?

1/23  Today we'll continue Cacoyannis' film.

1/24  Today we'll continue Cacoyannis' film.  

1/26  Today we'll finish the film, then you'll enjoy writing an in-class essay on Zorba the Greek.

1/29  Read O'Connor's "Good Country People."

1/30  Read Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find."

DE19: (fraught) On what is O'Connor commenting with his story?  Explain.

2/1  Read O'Connor's "The Life You Save May Be Your Own."

2/2  Paper #3 is due today: an expanded and polished DE16 or DE17; or an appreciation or critique of Zorba, his attitudes, philosophies and behavior; or an analysis of the Boss/Zorba dialectic; or an analysis of one of the O'Connor short stories.

In class we'll begin our study of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.

2/6  Read Act I of The Merchant of Venice.

2/8  Read Act II of The Merchant of Venice.

DE20: (machination) Choose a character in The Merchant of Venice and explain what motivates him or her.  What does he or she hope to achieve?  What's on his or her mind?

2/9  Read Act III of The Merchant of Venice.

2/13  Read Act IV of The Merchant of Venice.

Your recitation is due today: Shylock's speech in Act III, Scene i, from "...he hath disgraced me..." to "...do we not die?"

2/14  Finish reading The Merchant of Venice.

DE21: (explication) What, finally, is The Merchant of Venice about?  How is it intended to influence our thinking?  What suppositions does it challenge?  What notions does it encourage?

2/16  Today we'll conclude our study of The Merchant of Venice.

2/26  Today we'll begin our study of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

2/27  Finish reading section one of Heart of Darkness.

2/29  Read section two of Heart of Darkness.

3/1  Finish reading Heart of Darkness.

DE22: (mendacity) Explain the significance of Marlow's lie to Kurtz's fiancee.

3/5  Today we'll conclude our study of Heart of Darkness.

3/7  Read T. S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men."

3/8  Today we'll begin our study of Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now.  

3/12  Today we'll continue our scrutiny of Apocalypse Now.

3/13  Today we'll finish and discuss Apocalypse Now.

DE23: (brood) How does Apocalypse Now elaborate on Conrad's themes?

3/15  Today you'll write about and we'll discuss Apocalypse Now, Heart of Darkness and theories about the true nature of humankind.

3/18  Read Tim O'Brien's "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong."

3/19  Read O'Brien's "The Things They Carried."

DE24: (dolorous)  "It was very sad, he thought.  The things men carried inside.  The things men did or felt they had to do."  Explain.

3/21  Read O'Brien's "How to Tell a True War Story."

3/22  Read O'Brien's "The Man I Killed" and "Ambush."

DE25: (conundrum)  Explain: "Even now I haven't finished sorting it out.  Sometimes I forgive myself, other times I don't.  In the ordinary hours of life I try not to dwell on it, but now and then, when I'm reading the newspaper or just sitting alone in a room, I'll look up and see the young man coming out of the morning fog."

3/26  Read Robert Olen Butler's "Fairy Tale."

Today we'll discuss the story, and you'll be given the official Senior Paper assignment.  It's due April 30.

3/28  Have the first two chapters of Dear America finished by today.

4/1   Today we'll discuss chapters three and four of Dear America.

DE26: (epistle) Choose a letter in chapters three or four of Dear America and react.

4/2  Read chapters five and six of Dear America.

4/5  Paper #4: The Merchant of Venice/Heart of Darkness/oppression/bigotry/the war in Vietnam/Apocalypse Now/The Things They Carried/Dear America, open topic.  What from these readings and films have we learned about ourselves?  What have you learned from them about yourself?

4/8  Read Jhumpa Lahiri's "A Temporary Matter."

4/10  Read Lahiri's "When Mr. Prizada Came to Dine."

DE27: (pensive)  "When Mr. Prizada Came to Dine," open topic.

4/11  Read Lahiri's "Mrs. Sen's."

4/12  Read the poems by Pablo Neruda.

4/23  In class today we'll read and discuss Walt Whitman's "Song of the Open Road."

4/24  Read the Mary Oliver poems.

DE28: (sagacious)  Chose a Mary Oliver poem and explain why you chose it.  What is she saying and why is it important?

4/26  Read the Billy Collins poems.

4/29  Favorite Poem Day.  Please bring a copy of your favorite poem for everyone in the class.

DE29: (ardor)  Explain why your favorite poem is your favorite poem.

4/30  Your Senior Paper is due today.  In class we'll continue with your favorite poems.

5/3  Read Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World."

5/6  Read Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains."

5/8  Read Margaret Atwood's "Happy Endings."

DE30: (esoteric) What, please, is Atwood suggesting with this story? 

5/9  Today we begin the presentations.  We will hear from...

Will, Virgie, Kylie and Henry R.

5/10  More presentations.

Paul, Nate L., Corey and Diego K.

5/14  More presentations.

Teddy, Nate G., Jasper and Blake

5/15  More presentations.

Liam, Henry F., Diego D. and Viktor

5/17  Today we wrap up the presentations.

John, Charlie, Grace and Barbara

5/20  Today we conduct the Vocabulary Olympics combine and brace ourselves for the big event.

5/21  Vocabulary Olympics.

5/22  The debriefing.

DE31: (penultimate) Which of the year's readings resonated the most with you?  Which ideas will stick with you?  Why?  As ever, be specific.

5/23  Exit interviews.  

5/28  Aloha.

DE32: (valediction) Okay... it's just about over.  What did you learn in high school?  Of what you've learned, what do you anticipate will be most helpful as you begin the next chapter of your lives?